Tricks and Tides
by LoveableWeirdo
Summary: Fizz met Nami for the first time and he found someone who had more curiosity and eagerness to see more of the human world than himself, now this is the story on how they became close friends and the troubles that came with it.
1. Chapter 1

(Okay this is just between the friendship of two champs I really like, don't expect romance because there won't be any even if I imply it in the story.)

The calm, warm waters of Bilgewater washed over Fizz's fish-like body as he swam past the several ships docked on the harbour. Some of the ships were just merchant vessels, loading and unloading various goods such as cloth, sugar and rum whilst others hoisted black flags, proud to call themselves pirates, it was another normal day in the port city of Bilgewater. Of course this was now the norm in Bilgewater ever since the pirates took over but surprisingly the place didn't get pillaged, it has instead been used as a hub by the pirates and is home to two of the League's champions, Gangplank, a ruthless pirate captain and Miss Sarah Fortune, a bounty hunter. Both have been striving to unite the people of Bilgewater and turn them into a strong and independent society, but the two often argue on the direction of where the city-state should start. Fizz had an endless curiosity for humans and their way of life, he could still remember when he had meddled in the affairs of some pirates and politicians that caused him to be a target of a manhunt.

Now all of that was in the past and as a champion of the League and hero to Bilgewater, people welcomed him and his pet shark, Chomper in open arms. To him, this was now his home, a place he would constantly visit to meet and interact with the humans. Fizz continued to swim around the harbour, waving goodbye to several sailors and ships who began to depart, he also threw bottles of rum back on land, he loved Bilgewater but the pollution in the waters was the one thing he hated most. Fizz was promised by _him_ that this would change, that the waters would be clean from pollution as a thank you from the citizens for what he did but it seems that after a few months, people had begun to ignore that. He heard the boisterous laugh of the famous pirate captain and decided to head on to land and have a chat with the captain. He climbed on to the dock of Bilgewater with his trident, nearly twice as tall as him and skipped around to find the famous pirate ship, the Queen Ashe's Revenge. It took some time for Fizz to finally find the ship, his curiosity had once again led him on a path full of distractions, the ship in question was close by from where he had started from but it didn't take more than five steps until his attention had been taken from him by sailors loudly singing shanties in the nearby pub. He caught a glimpse at the pirate captain Gangplank on the dock next to his ship with his wild, unkempt beard and his red coat with the ripped sleeves, showing his impressive looking biceps. The captain was drinking some rum with his crew, Fizz thought that he might just be celebrating the fact that due to his lack of popularity by the summoners he was free to roam and pillage as he pleased and he was doing just that. Fizz propped up his trident, prongs down, and used his mighty legs to jump and balance on his trident using only one arm to support his whole body, he reached over and grabbed Gangplank's hat and put it on giving the captain a wink as he did so.

"Yarr harr harr, I look like an old drunkard who's too shrivelled up for the sea!" Fizz mocked, imitating the fearsome pirate as best as he could. "Come lads and bring me more grog so that I can get to the locker faster!"

Gangplank merely scoffed at Fizz's attempt to mock him in front of his crew, if it had been anyone else in Bilgewater they would have had a bullet between the eyes but only the fish-like creature was an exception. There's a saying in Bilgewater, "Only a drowned fool fights a fish in water" meaning that anyone who dares to fight Fizz would have to do so without a body of water nearby. There are many fearsome pirates who would cower to face the blue creature in Bilgewater and even more cower at the thought of fighting him in open sea with his pet shark lurking close by. Gangplank was no idiot, when his usual self, Fizz posed no threat, he was like a curious child in an adult world but try to anger him and it becomes a different story altogether. He swiped his hat off of Fizz's head and placed it intricately back on to his own as if it was some complicated mechanism that could only be worn a certain way.

"So what is it you want, me boy?" Gangplank asked as he put his bottle of rum down.

"Aww, you won't even get mad even just a little bit Planky?" Fizz chuckled.

"Boy, I am the most fearsome pirate in all of Valoran. If I were to lose my temper from every little welp in Bilgewater there would be a lot of grieving mothers here!" he said proudly.

Fizz shook his head and stared the captain dead in the eye with a devious smile in his face. Gangplank followed suit, he was sure something unexpected was going to happen and that's when the floorboards underneath shook violently. Gangplank jumped back as fast as he could as a large shark bursted from underneath the dock, sending debris flying with its massive build and strong jaws. How a monster shark like that could get even near Bilgewater with its shallow shores without being noticed was beyond anybody's guess. The shark dove back into the water and left a sizeable hole in the dock, Gangplank checked to see if his crew was alright and saw Fizz laughing so hard that he wheezed and cried tears of joy.

"What the bloody 'ell was that for?!" Gangplank demanded an answer from Fizz.

"That was for not following the one thing I've requested," Fizz explained as he wiped a tear off his eye. "I wanted the waters in Bilgewater unpolluted and you promised me that with your influence you could make that happen!"

Gangplank scratched his head and tried his best to recall that promise, he had spent nearly two months at sea and the times he was back in Bilgewater was only full of memories of merriment, whores and rum, lots and lots of rum. He figured that he must have been really drunk when Fizz came to talk about the problem.

"Listen to me boy not even I, the great captain Gangplank, can fully control a whole city full of bloodthirsty vagrants," Gangplank explained. "They would skin me alive! Besides it's not as if anyone gets hurt from the bottles floating around."

Fizz sighed, Gangplank made a very good point and it's not like he could force every human in Bilgewater to abide by this rule, he liked the humans and enforcing a rule to change their way of living in Bilgewater just so that the waters around Bilgewater would be a little cleaner was selfish of him. Fizz whistled and the giant shark's fin emerged from the waters again.

"Fine I'll let it go for now," He said in an unsatisfied tone and jumped on to the shark's back. "But this ain't over, you hear me?!"

He grabbed on to Chomper's fin as the shark dove away from Bilgewater into the open sea, normally Fizz would swim for hours to ignore all the complicated thoughts in his mind but right now all he wanted was to sit on top of Chomper's back and feel the waves rush past him. After what felt like an hour of just looking up at the cloudless blue sky Fizz patted Chomper on the fin, signifying that he was about to get off of the shark. The shark submerged into the ocean then jerked back up and launched both itself and Fizz high in the air, a big grin on his face as he ran up to Chomper's tail. Chomper swung its tail as hard as it could upwards and as soon as Fizz had reached the peak of the swing, he let go of the shark's tail as it launched him further up into the sky, it felt great. He performed 360 degrees spins and several front flips before splashing back into the water, whilst in the depths of the ocean he noticed a familiar turquoise fin on top of some rocks and decided to get close but the fin slapped him away before he could touch it.

Fizz swam upwards and shook the water off his head, the mermaid shielded herself and both looked at each other for a moment, they smiled to each other and she offered him a hand up which he accepted and sat next to her, he placed his trident next to her staff, close at hand, he then twisted his tentacles to remove any excess water. The mermaid was a mystery to Fizz, she had been in the League for almost two years but they both had not interacted with each other that much, he could recall that they had one conversation and it was to ask her whether he knew anything about the disappearance of his people but even she knew nothing of what happened to them. She was different from him to say the least, she was more of a fish than he was; she wore strange, grey armour on her waist and head, different from the ones in his home, her helmet was adorned with a deep blue gem in the middle then smaller blue gems going down to her chest and yet her staff and his trident were of almost similar design so there was a connection between the two species no matter how small it may have been. Her scales also covered most of her chest but still exposed parts of her body that looked fleshy which gave the illusion that she wore "clothes", Fizz on the other hand looked like a mutated yordle, with his webbed hands and feet and his tentacle-like hair, people have been confusing him as that for years so it didn't bother him that much. The two just watched the waves; they were the same as this morning, calm. The only sound was when the waves would hit the rock the two were sitting on, it caused a loud crashing noise and splash the two from the back but neither one minded, it was refreshing.

"I'm sorry about earlier, I thought that you were some kind of predator. That was really impressive by the way," the mermaid said suddenly, finally breaking the silence between the two. "The way you were just flipping and spinning in the air, I could tell that you really like doing that."

"Oh, uh thanks," Fizz thanked her, blushing slightly. He always felt like a small child being complimented like that, he made it look effortless but it actually took hours of practice. Still, it didn't stop him from having a big grin on his face. "Anyone can do it if they tried."

"Would you like me to show you my trick?" she asked eagerly, she was like a dog ready to show off.

Even before he could respond she dove into the depths of the ocean, everything was quiet again for a few seconds then she sprung from behind him and the rocks doing three backflips. He watched her perform, amazed at how fast she got behind him and how high she had managed to get up with just her tail alone as she dove back down to where she started from, effectively drenching Fizz in water yet again. She popped up with a smile and raised her hands in the air.

"So what do you think of that Fizz?" she asked.

"That was incredible!" Fizz complimented her. "I never knew that you liked doing stuff like that too…"

Fizz stopped and mumbled something to himself, trying his best to recall something. The mermaid couldn't even make out what he was saying but he looked really annoyed at himself for some reason. She tapped him on his leg with a concerned look and he turned to look at her.

"Is something the matter?" she asked worryingly.

"Ah well… I can't seem to… remember your name," Fizz confessed, letting out an embarrassed laugh. "Sorry."

He could see the dispirited look on her face and he felt like a terrible person. Even when they had only had one conversation, she still went to the trouble of remembering his name but he couldn't even do that. He tapped his head furiously with his fingers to try pull out her name from his subconscious.

"Ariel - no, Coral – no, Melody – no that's not it." Fizz listed names off the top of his head seeing if any of them fit the mermaid at all, she still looked down.

"Honestly, it's fine Fizz," she said. "I wouldn't be surprised that you wouldn't remember, we don't really "hang-out" as the humans say. Even when we are both summoned it seems we are always against each other."

Fizz almost decided to give up but it was when a large wave hit Fizz's back so hard that it knocked him off of the rock on to the mermaid's chest, she caught him and finally a name clicked in his head.

"Nami! Your name is Nami!" he recalled.

She nodded her head and her face suddenly changed back to a cheerful one, they both laughed and climbed back up on top of the rocks and they were quiet to one another once again.

"So how did you remember?" she probed after a few minutes.

"Well… when I was visiting Ionia, I learnt some local words from there," Fizz explained as he stretched his arms. "One of 'em just so happens to be "nami" which means wave, so when that large wave hit me it just sort' a clicked in my head, y'know?"

Nami grabbed him and gave him a hug which surprised Fizz; he was so short that he was being suffocated when his face was pressed against her stomach and his whole head was in Nami's arms. He frantically patted her arm, trying to tell her that he couldn't breathe but she must not have noticed because as soon as she let go of him Fizz was gasping for air, that hug felt like it lasted for ages. She apologised again for not noticing and his response was a simple thumb-up, and it was during this time that the two got to know each other a little better. They told story after story; about how Fizz met Chomper, about Nami and the Marai, Nami sympathised with Fizz after hearing in more detail about the disappearance of his people and Fizz was impressed to see her determination in her quest to help hers. Fizz noticed that the sun was setting and it was time to head back to Bilgewater, he then whistled calling for Chomper and the large monster shark emerged once again from the depths, menacing-looking to others but a softy to Fizz. He jumped on the shark's back, trident on-hand, before waving goodbye to the mermaid but Nami immediately dove into the water and swam beside the shark.

"Don't you have to get home Nami?" Fizz asked.

"Actually I thought I could come with you to Bilgewater," she said, able to still speak normally even as water gushed in her mouth as she talked. "I've never actually been there but I've heard it's a beautiful port-city and it's even more beautiful at night."

Fizz gave her a sceptical look; "beautiful" wasn't really the best word to describe that place and whoever's been saying that must have been pirates who're patiently waiting to ambush ships, full of unsuspecting merchants who may come to visit the city.

"Okay Nami, you can come with but I gotta warn you those people are rough," Fizz warned. "You need to have a thick skin and whatever people say, jus' ignore 'em okay?"

"I'm a Marai, Fizz," she said as if something was really obvious. "We have thick scales; I think I'll be just fine!"

"Th-That's not exactly what I meant…" Fizz said as he shook his head.

He sighed and shrugged his shoulders, it looks like he was just going to have to keep his eye on her just for tonight in case she gets into trouble but then again, she was no push-over that's for sure. Still, he can't help but feel slightly responsible for her safety in a den full of bloodthirsty pirates who want nothing but the most valuable of items, a "Marai" is pretty high up there along with rare items like his trident. He shook the idea of her being auctioned and sold off, even if that was to happen, she was still a champion of the League and the high summoners would never let anything happen to the champs and she would be free within minutes.

Fizz smiled at her and she did the same as they approached the port-city, the distant lights from the lanterns of the buildings and ships still docked in the harbour, from this distance Nami was right, Bilgewater did look beautiful. Fizz watched her eyes glistening; her gaze was drawn to Bilgewater, she waved to ships departing just like he does and stops just as they reach the shallow water, Fizz lets go of Chomper and the shark retreats back into the open sea. They just floated there, Nami still watched the merriment of the sailors, singing and drinking to their heart's content there was even a couple going at it and she blushed slightly and turned her attention to some other part of the port. Fizz motioned to her if she wanted to go on land, she didn't respond with only a smile on her face. He grabbed hold of her hand, thinking that maybe she was just nervous and he would guide her to land but she pulled him back and hugged him from behind. They were still silently floating around, not saying a single word to each other but he could feel hear chest from behind his head and the beating of her heart, it was going so fast. She must be really excited to see this place.

"Thank you… today was a lot of fun," she said quietly, still watching Bilgewater but giving a small kiss on Fizz's head. "This place truly is beautiful, wouldn't you agree?"

"No problem and yeah from this far away it does look nice," he agreed. "Do you want to get in closer maybe? See the locals and I can introduce you to the captain and Sarah if you want."

"No, not yet," Nami shook her head. "I'm fine with just looking at it for now."

"Well when you're ready to go just tell me," He said. "I don't want you getting lost or hurt when we go on land."

"Oh really? I may be the one who'll get you out of trouble." She joked, sticking her tongue out.

After taking a deep breath she then dunked Fizz's head in the water and swam to Bilgewater while laughing, Fizz was disorientated as he coughed out the water but he could see the devious smile on her face. He chuckled to himself and swam after her to show her around his home away from home.


	2. Chapter 2

Nami waited for Fizz to catch up to her, her powerful tail got her at the harbour in less than a minute whilst Fizz even with his streamlined body took a good five minutes just getting halfway, it was during the few minutes of waiting for him that Nami noticed the bottles of rum that had been carelessly thrown away. She frowned and tossed the bottles back on land and away from the beautiful waters of Bilgewater, she was surprised at how many bottles there actual was as for every one she threw away there would be three more floating nearby. Even though she had ventured out on her quest Nami admits that she had never interacted with many humans, not even the human champions, nor had gone to another city-state apart from Bandle City. She had only chatted with the cute inhabitants of the city, the Yordles and other non-human champs like Alistar and Rammus, she knew she needed to change if she was ever going to find the person who held the moonstone but humans were complex and confusing creatures that she was often apprehensive when they would come to talk to her. Nami had tried to strike a conversation with the Nine-tailed Fox just a few days ago but she looked so much like a human that Nami lost what she had to say to her and ran away, a very embarrassing day for her. She threw four more bottles back along the shores of Bilgewater, just far enough so that the tide won't drag them back, she wondered what was taking Fizz so long but decided to pick up more bottles to occupy herself. Then again, if humans are these disgusting creatures who don't care about the environment and world they lived in maybe it was better for her to stay away from them after all. She shook her head, she knew fully well that there are different types of people even Fizz said that he'll introduce her to Miss Fortune and captain Gangplank, two of the city's champions and personal friends of his. Nami had a thought, since both the captain and Miss Fortune had ships maybe they had heard stories of a moonstone and maybe, just maybe she can find that person.

Fizz tapped her on the shoulder and took her out of her train of thought; she noticed that he had a large sack slung over his back; it looked nearly twice as big as he was and he struggled to keep himself afloat, bobbing left and right. He saw that she was carrying five bottles of alcohol and chuckled quietly to himself, it wasn't until they reached the sandy shore that Nami finally inquired about the contents of the large sack. Fizz in a show-offy fashion revealed the contents of the sack, nothing was inside apart from bottles, bottles upon bottles of alcohol. She dropped the ones she had fished out of the water and laughed, they both had the same idea. She then asked what she planned to do with all of the bottles he collected and he explained with glee his prank to her for a certain seadog, she now understood why his title was "The Tidal Trickster" and Nami couldn't help but smile as he let her in on his master plan, they had only gotten to know each other for a few hours but it felt great to play a part in his prank nonetheless. Fizz dragged the sack with one hand and held on to Nami's hand with the other to guide her around Bilgewater then a thought crossed his mind, he turned back to look at her and then down to her tail. She was floating in what looked like a small body of water, it followed her; moving as she glided on the water.

"Whoa, how're you doing that Nami?!" he asked in a surprised tone, eyes wide.

She looked down at the body of water that Fizz was taking about; to her, this was pretty common magic but the look on her new friend's face was one of awestruck, like it was some new and powerful magic that he had never seen before. She stuck her chest out, held her head up and raised her staff high in the air, the look of pride and self-pretentiousness plastered on her face.

"They don't call me "The Tidecaller" for nothing!" she announced proudly, watching the excited expression on Fizz's face. "This magic is pretty hard to do only the best and strongest of the Marai can accomplish it."

She twirled her staff around and pillars of water shot out of the ground then dwindled into small puddles after a few seconds, Nami still had a look of smugness on her face and blew on her fingers.

"So what do you think of that?" she asked.

"That's so cool," Fizz cheered, he began to touch the water, it moved like the waves of the sea. "So you must be one of the best out there!"

"Nah!" she confessed, giggling. "This is pretty common magic for us Marai; even someone like me who's not that strong or smart can use it."

"Oh but I don't know anyone else who can do magic like this. So to me, you _are_ the strongest and smartest Marai, Nami." Fizz replied with a grin.

Nami blushed slightly at the blue creature's compliment, she had never thought of herself as anything great even when she had the privilege of being a champion and even being given a title, maybe she was just being too modest.

"Th-Thank you for saying that…" she muttered.

Fizz nodded his head then began his tour of Bilgewater to Nami; they started at the harbour of Bilgewater, watching various ships from different parts of Valoran stopping off to sell their cargo or setting sail to return to their respective cities. It was easy to tell which ships were Demacia's and Noxus' with their large, heavily armed and robust galleon ships, the only way to tell the difference were the colours of their sails and symbols of the city-states on the ships' imprinted to the sails. Normally these ships were used for war with the amount of cannons and armour they had, with things as tense they are between the two cities one would think that they wouldn't use such ships but it was to protect the cargo from pirates that may attack and from each other. It was safe to assume that these ships would cause destruction to Bilgewater if it weren't for the parley in place that have both nations negotiating terms to not attack one another, though when both are at open sea it was a different story. The ships from Ionia were long and sleek junk ships, their sails were held together by battens, making it look like a fish's fin, some of the ships had up to three sails whilst others only had one and all of them had red sails, the colours of Ionia. Ionian ships also sold their cargo here, though the two nations _did _have a tense relationship due to Bilgewater pirates pillaging villages and kidnapping many Ionian women. Even now the Ionian captains were told to be wary of the pirates' actions. Then there were the pirate ships proudly raising their black flags, ranging from different sizes, the pirates were too poor to afford their own ships so like any seadog of the sea they did the best thing they could do; ambush and ransack unsuspecting ships and take it for their own. They had nothing to fear here in Bilgewater, this was their home after all. Many pirates took a liking to the small ships, able to sneak up on merchants and get away with their cargo but captain Gangplank and other notorious pirate captains took ships that were meant to fight any of the city states' navies, large man-o'-wars silently biding their time, dormant giants waiting for the armies to start a war then they can finally make their move but they also commanded much smaller ships used to hunt down small prey.

Fizz explained all this to Nami as he guided her around, hand-in-hand, she didn't understand much of what he said about the ships but she knew that he was very knowledgeable from living in Bilgewater for so long. Nami wanted to get close to some of the nearby ships docked but Fizz warned her that it was probably best to stay away since the humans would "get so drunk on alcohol that they grab everything in sight". Nami pouted but Fizz didn't give in and eventually she had to just give up, she vowed to herself that she will get to ride a ship when Fizz wasn't around; she then noticed the dimly-lit image of a skull on the large rocks behind the city, it looked terrifying to Nami but Fizz explained that it was just a coincidental formation of the rocks but the stupid human pirates thought it was a sign from the Gods to make Bilgewater their new home. She liked that Fizz explained everything to her as they walked around; from the constant smell of urine and alcohol that lingered in the air to the reason why every person held some sort of weapon or holstered a pistol, she thought that she was a bother asking him all these questions but he didn't seem to mind, in fact, to Fizz he enjoyed showing Nami around but he would never let it show on his face.

They passed by several pubs and taverns on Fleet Street, they could now start to hear the singing, cheering and fighting that grew louder and louder the more taverns they passed through and the smell of alcohol grew stronger in the air, almost enough to make a newcomer puke. This was the 'entertainment' section of the city with many drunk sailors and prostitutes running around, some were even passed out in the middle of the street whilst others stumbled from tavern to tavern, singing shanties as if in a daze. Most of the people were too drunk to notice the two passing through the place but the odd comment from random passer-by made Fizz want to leave the area as fast as possible and increased his walking pace.

"Ain't that one o' ol' Gangplank's boys?" asked a prostitute who was talking to her friend next to her.

"Yeah it is, tha' lad is the one tha' saved Bilgewa'er, Fizz I think it was, lookit tha' he got 'imself a nice lady friend!" exclaimed the other prostitute.

"Oi' Jimmy, you shee wha' I see over there? A fish out o' wa'er, me eyes must be givin' up on me." said one of the pirates that leaned against a wall of a nearby tavern.

"You really think Fizz would let us 'ave a go at 'is friend? No chance, mate. Unless you want a trident near your crotch, you'd stay away. 'Sides, it's just a fish, plen'y of good women in Bilgewa'er!" warned his friend.

"Iz'zat a fish?!" slurred one of the drunk pirates who was lying down on the floor, too drunk to stand up. "I-I-I never seen a fish wiv' such a nice set o' melons on 'em!"

The pirate grabbed hold on to Nami's wrist then proceeded to hug her as he tried to cop a feel from her, Fizz reacted immediately by pushing the pirate back down and pointed his trident near the man's neck, and he gritted his teeth ready to thrust it forward. The pirate whimpered, slowly backing away from Fizz when he was stopped by large man in long black coat, brandishing six pistols on his chest and a long, wild black beard, his features were unmistakable, it was a very old friend of Fizz and a man he held a lot of respect towards.

"Be'ave yourself Jack or I'll grind your bones to dust and make my bread with it! Tha's as close as I'll get to cannibalism but I'll enjoy every last second I'm picking out a snivelling little worm like you ou' of my teeth!" roared the man, his face looked like he had no tolerance for his friend's action; he picked up his friend by his collar who had gone completely white and threw him over his shoulder. "I never thought I'd see the day to see the young scallywag grow up to be a man brings a tear to me eye, I can still remember teachin' you 'ow to fire your first pistol. Treat 'er right or I'll skin you, ya hear me?"

Fizz pulled back his trident and sighed, he looked at Nami who smiled at him but he saw the look of fear in her eyes for a second when the pirate grabbed on to her, it was still in her eyes.

"Do you want to go home now?" Fizz asked, concerned for her safety. "It's getting dangerous for you here."

"N-No, I'm fine," she said. "Please keep showing me around, I've been really enjoying it."

Fizz nodded hesitantly and then turned to the large man, he bowed his head and the man did the same, it was a sign of respect towards fellow each other in Bilgewater.

"Thanks, Teach." Fizz mumbled.

The large man leaned forward and whispered some words of advice to the blue creature.

"Take better care o' your friend, lad. There are many out there 'o knows 'er true value. Even if she's a champion of the League, once she's fishnapped and taken to open sea, 'o knows what they could do to 'er."

The pirate begins to walk away before turning back to look at the two once again, he could see Fizz worriedly turning Nami's wrist to check for injuries and the Marai constantly telling him that she was just alright and that he shouldn't worry so much.

"Oh and lad, I go by Thatch now." He announced, then turned around again and walked inside one of the nearby taverns leaving the two alone once again.

"He seems like a nice old man." Nami commented, turning towards Fizz.

"Yeah he is," Fizz replied. "He's like a father to me, thought me everything I needed to know to survive here."

"I thought that was Gangplank?" She wondered.

Fizz laughed for a full minute he laughed so hard that his eyes began to water, he looked at Nami again who had a confused look to why he found that so funny.

"Oh, you seriously thought that old bilge rat raised me," he said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "Sorry, that was _too_ funny. You really think that our dear old captain is capable of bossing me around?"

Nami shrugged and Fizz just shook his head as he led them out of Fleet Street, they were still constantly side-tracked by Nami who wanted to check out every pub or tavern where she could hear sailors singing so that she may join along in their merriment, Fizz just went along with it and let her have some fun instead of just bossing her around and telling her what she can and can't do. He wondered whether this is how he came across to other people, full of curiosity for the unknown, he didn't even realise that Nami had a lot of energy similar to himself. When Nami had finally decided to leave the fourth tavern they had stumbled into a brothel by accident thanks to her curiosity; half naked women surrounded Fizz and sat him down as they pressed their almost naked bodies on to his. He felt like he was in an even more dangerous situation than fighting creatures of the deep but Nami summoned the tides and doused the women and Fizz, she grabbed him during the commotion and made their escape, Fizz felt sad that he left his bag of bottles behind and that he couldn't continue with his prank. He saw the uncomfortable look on her face when the women surrounded him but he didn't understand why she would make that face.

Once escaping from Fleet Street Fizz continued his tour, passing through the city's sleepy residential area and at the far end of the city was a large stone fort, it brandished cannons in almost every window with two tall towers that housed even more weaponry, its back was protected by the large jungle and inside that jungle were some ferocious beasts. Everyone thought that the fort was impenetrable and it was… except for Fizz who may or may not have stumbled into the fortress by accident which led to the events of his manhunt in the past. As they approached the entrance, guards blocked their path but immediately moved to one side to let the two pass as soon as they recognised them. Inside the fort looked much more welcoming than from the outside but Fizz and Nami only focused on the two figures who argued around a round table at the back of the room, they constantly cursed at each other and slammed their fist on the table, at one point both of them pointed their pistols at the other person's neck. Fizz walked over to both of the figures and crossed his arms, shaking his head as he drew closer to them with Nami following just behind him. One of the figures was Gangplank; he looked just as surly as he did this morning with Fizz and the other figure was a woman with tangled, crimson red hair, who wore a large hat and tight fitting clothes. They both put down their pistols as Fizz took a seat in between them and Nami floated beside him, the woman noticed who Fizz had brought and gave her a friendly wave, Gangplank on the other hand, narrowed his eyes at Nami.

"Don't you just hate it when mommy and daddy are fighting?" Fizz asked rhetorically.

"Hehe, I heard the scare you gave the poor captain this morning. Good job Fizz," The woman complimented, taking a swig at a bottle of rum on the table. "And no worries, me and the captain were just talking 'politics' again."

"That little scurvy-ridden rat almost killed-"

"So Nami I don't think I've ever seen you in Bilgewater, why did you suddenly decide to pay this rat's nest a visit?" she asked, interrupting Gangplank and completely ignoring him.

Even before Nami could answer, the old sea dog grumbled and stomped out of the fort, muttering something about the woman being an annoying bitch and that he demanded respect since he was the reason why Bilgewater is so well respected. Nami hesitated to give a reply but she knew this person from fighting with her several times, she swallowed her courage and said,

"We-Well Miss Fortune I-"

"Nami please," the woman interrupted again which prompted Nami to be quiet. "It's Sarah, hun. That whole "Miss Fortune" thing is cute but when you're with friends you don't have to call me that all the time."

The fact that Miss Fortune would call her a friend made her happy, she didn't know what she did to be called that but she was happy nonetheless.

"May I just ask why did you consider us friends?" Nami asked who was still nervous so she looked down on the ground not making eye contact.

"You save a person enough times and they're bound to call you their friend. Being a friend is an understatement, you're like my guardian angel when we're paired together. I dunno just how many times you saved my skin when we're in the thick of it."

"I-I see, then please depend on me more to save you!" she cried almost too enthusiastically and bowed her head.

Fizz and Miss Fortune both looked at each other and chuckled, it was really cute to see how Nami was when she was with other people. Fizz patted her on the head and congratulated her on doing such a great job as a support, he even teased her about her wanting Sarah to depend on her more. Nami was so embarrassed and tried to grab Fizz to shut him up but he was too quick even with Nami shooting spheres of water at him as he would simply jump on his trident and leap away from her. It was like watching two children playing tag and Miss Fortune felt genuine happiness from watching the two, it reminded her of the time she spent with her own mother, that warmth was a great feeling and she could feel it now. Hours passed, the trickster had fallen asleep on the table, Miss Fortune grabbed a blanket and tucked the blue creature in, gave him a small kiss on his head and sat back down to talk to Nami. She also found it strange like Fizz when Nami mentioned just how beautiful Bilgewater is, even after the tour, Nami's perception of the place had not changed, she didn't want to be the one to admit to her that this place was just a giant rat's nest and scratched her head to figure out just exactly what is it that Nami found so amazing about this place. Miss Fortune did admit that she does have a lot of fun swindling from many, many stupid pirates but Nami's reasons must have been different, maybe humans just don't see the beauty in things that her people do, maybe seeing human structures and cultures are what she finds amazing, whatever the case she was never going to find out the answer and she was fine with that. She then turned the topic of conversation to Fizz and a small but cheeky smile emerged from Miss Fortune's face.

"So Nami, what do you think or our little Fizzy here?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Oh I think that he's a very fun person to be with," Nami replied. "He's patient and kind and protective of me even though we had only just become friends this morning."

Miss Fortune was silent, it wasn't the answer she was hoping for but decided to prod more, she was really glad with Nami's naïveté as it made it easy to ask her question.

"Yes but I mean do you have any 'feelings' for him?" she probed. "I've never seen him act so mature before so I'm guessing it's got something to do with you. Maybe he likes you."

"We-Well if that were the case it would make me very happy," Nami could see Miss Fortune gasped, trying to hide the most obvious smile. "But I would have to turn him down."

Miss Fortunes face dropped and grabbed hold of Nami by her arms; she looked like she was ready to shake down the mermaid just to get some information out of her.

"Huh? Wait, why?!" she asked frantically. "If you like him then you should at least tell him, I think it would be cute if you two were together, think about it."

"It-It's not that I wouldn't want to be with him," Nami said, trying her best to calm down her new friend. "But I don't know yet whether I want to be with him because of love or some other reason. I've often heard of people acting differently when they become couples and I don't want him to change because of me, I like him just the way he is. Plus there's still the business of locating a moonstone…"

"Why don't you try Ionia? Those people know anything about everything!" Miss Fortune suggested.

"Do you really think so?"

"It's worth a shot! How about we set sail for Ionia and get you that moonstone."

"Thank you Miss- Sarah, that's exactly what I want."

"So what happens when you get the moonstone? Do you get some awesome power or even treasure maybe, I'm always available if there's treasure."

"I heard that the Tidecaller will receive a power that will bring prosperity to the Marai for a century."

"Wait so you'll go back to your people? What about the League?"

"I will have finished my quest, so there's no more reason for me to be summoned. I'm sure the high summoners will understand if I explain it to them."

"So you're just gonna leave him?"

She pointed at the sleeping, blue creature and frowned at Nami. Nami was silent, she felt that she may have upset her but she had no other choice, this is how it was supposed to be.

"You know he may not show it but he's actually very lonely. Do you know what it'd be like to lose everyone you know, that feeling of helplessness that every last person that you ever cared about is now gone? The people you grew up with as a child just disappearing like smoke…"

"N-No, I don't but I need to think about my people first, you know this. It's the same with you and Bilgewater, yes? I would love nothing more than to spend endless carefree days with Fizz and go with him on his adventures and it hurts thinking about not being able to see everyone from the League when I finish but that's the way it has to be."

Nami was surprised; she didn't think that she had the confidence to tell Miss Fortune so much of the things that have been swirling around in her head. The bounty hunter was just quiet for a few seconds, Nami was right of course it was the same as with her and Bilgewater.

"Look, I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that. Just… Just don't get his hopes up, tell it to him straight that once you find what you're looking for then you're gone. I don't want him getting attached to someone who'll just disappear on him again."

"Was there another girl that Fizz may have liked?"

"Yeah but… we don't talk about her anymore."

"W-What happened to her?"

Miss Fortune took a deep breath and a swig of alcohol before continuing.

"The Noxian army captured this young girl for stowing away in one of their ships; she was raped in public and then gibbeted… I could still hear it you know, her screams and her crying as they raped her again and again and then even more screams as Swain's crows began to peck at her," She paused taking another swig, Miss Fortune gritted her teeth and clenched the bottle harder. She could see the look of shock and disgust on Nami's face but she continued with the story, regardless. "We tried to help, really we did but we were up against a large portion of the Noxian army; Swain and Darius and well-trained soldiers with guns and swords, a lot of guns and swords. What did we have? A bunch of egotistical pricks that won't do their work and will just scratch their balls all day unless they get paid. We- We hid the truth from Fizz and said that she died at sea; he didn't need to hear something like that and the body… well after the crows had their way with her there was barely anything to distinguish the girl by and disposing of the body was easy enough."

Miss Fortune stood up, not bothering to look at Nami and headed upstairs. "We leave at 11 sharp, meet me at the docks and get a good night's rest" was all she said to her, leaving Nami with that terrifying tale. She stroked Fizz's head, feeling sorry for him, the self-satisfied look on his sleeping face showed his innocence was still very much intact. She left the fort and headed for the sea with many thoughts circling in her mind, she didn't want Fizz to experience losing someone again but there she also had a duty to her people. As these thoughts grew in her mind more and more, Nami knew that she wouldn't get a good night's sleep tonight.

* * *

(Wow I just realised that Miss Fortune has been in almost all the stories I've written, guess that shows my secret love for the champion.)


	3. Chapter 3

Fizz awoke to the scent of the salty, fresh-air of the ocean, still tired from the night before. He found himself on the middle of the deck of a ship, the sounds of sailors running around and working to help open the sails and the quartermaster shouting orders and co-ordinates for their next destination. He was greeted with smiles and laughter from the sailors and he did the same though none of the men looked familiar at all to him. He yawned and scratched his back as he jumped on the side of the ship and grabbed hold of the ropes so that he wouldn't accidentally fall, he squinted his eyes to stop the blinding sun from becoming a bother, nothing but open sea for miles, he then turned back and the view was similar meaning that he had been on this ship for quite some time. He jumped back up on the deck and walked around, he was sure that he was inside Bilgewater's fort the night before but now he was in an unknown ship. He was never one to panic situations such as this and walked up to one of the nearby sailors who didn't look busy.

"G'mornin' Fizz!" greeted the sailor with a huge smile.

"Yeah, good morning… so where am I?" he asked.

"Oh, ha-ha I guess no one's told you yet, we're headed to Ionia," The sailor explained. "Seems the cap'ain wanted to go there of all places and whatever the cap'ain says goes."

As if on cue, one of the doors to the captain's quarters slammed open, Miss Fortune standing there with an impatient look and Nami was floating just behind her. The crimson-haired captain grabbed Fizz by one of his tentacle-like hair and pulled him inside, the other sailors watched, snickering and laughing under their breaths as they continued to work. Miss Fortune shut the door to her room so that they would be in privacy one again, she handed Fizz's trident back to him; the thought never even crossed his mind where it may have disappeared off to. The blue creature thanked the captain but was lectured on how he should take better care of his weapon. She then explained about Nami and the moonstone and how a certain person may have it in Ionia, of course she left out the parts that would ruin the good mood of the morning seeing that it would be best to save that for a different time.

"Oh man, it feels like it's been forever since I've been to Ionia!" Fizz exclaimed. "I wonder of Wu's gonna be there."

"We're not there to have fun, Fizz," Miss Fortune said, looking out of the window at the back of her ship. "We're just going to have to see _her, _ask if she knows anything and if she does then great, if not… well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Fizz gave her an annoyed look, he was all for the plan to visit Ionia. In fact, that's where he was planning on taking Nami next but he felt out of the loop with no one telling him of their destination until now, even being carried around Bilgewater while he was still asleep. His stomach grumbled signifying his need for breakfast, he blushed at the two and gave a small chuckle Nami also giggled and told him that she had breakfast prepared for him below the deck. He leapt up to his feet when he heard the word "breakfast" and rushed down to satisfy his stomach, leaving the two alone in the room again.

"Are you sure that you don't want to tell him?" Miss Fortune asked as she poured herself some tea.

Nami just shook her head and smiled at her friend. Miss Fortune sighed and took a sip, still looking out the window; it would be a few more hours until they headed to the beautiful land of Ionia. Ionia was a beautiful country that had been ravaged by Noxus but with the Noxus army driven out, the places that were once full of destruction had been rebuilt from the ground-up. The country was full of tall mountains, tranquil rivers and forests that were full of life, the people there led simple lives, many were either farmers or simply merchants but it was Ionia's champions that were the reason that the country stood so proud. Miss Fortune admitted that it wasn't her type of place and that is was too quiet and boring but she will endure just for this one trip.

Several hours later they had docked in a small fishing village at the south of Ionia, Miss Fortune had told her men to not cause trouble for the people so that they didn't attract unwanted attention, though three champions walking past the village was enough and they were swarmed by fans and admirers. The captain tried her best to push through the crowd of people but to no avail, Nami and Fizz on the other hand had fun greeting and shaking hands with the villagers. Fizz showed off his acrobatic abilities and Nami pulled the tides in, creating large bubbles that popped and brought an assortment of colours, even Fizz was impressed and asked Nami to repeatedly do her trick. The crowd enjoyed themselves and it wasn't until a loud whistle from behind the people stopped everyone, a small, elderly woman looked side-to-side at the villagers and with a small motion of her hands the villagers moved out of the way and allowed the champions through.

"I'm very sorry about that," the elderly woman apologised. "We don't get a lot of celebrities such as you passing through our quiet, little village."

"It's no problem ma'am," said Fizz. "It's nice to be surrounded by so many people!"

Nami nodded and the crowd cheered for them. The celebration almost restarted before Miss Fortune blurted out,

"But we really must be going. We came to Ionia to find Soraka; you wouldn't happen to know where she is, would you?"

"The Starchild is at her grove, giving advice to those who seek it, child," replied the woman. "Though to find her grove, you must first become lost in the vast forest with a clear mind."

This is the one thing Miss Fortune found extremely annoying with Ionians, they almost always seemed to talk in riddles. She thanked the elderly woman and dragged both Fizz and Nami out of the village and began their journey in Ionia. The three ventured deep within the forests, it was a breath-taking sight, though for Miss Fortune she was mostly out of breath with the number of hills. Fizz and Nami took in the sights; Nami had finally seen a cherry-blossom tree for the first time, a tree that bloomed small but beautiful, pink flowers. She had also spotted pandas as they ate bamboos, every couple of minutes there was always something new that she came across, water lotuses and lilies, red pandas and multi-coloured pheasants. The two were completely distracted and off to their own little world, Miss Fortune behind them wheezed and tried to catch her breath, why she wore her boots when visiting a place like Ionia she'll never know and whined for the two to stop and wait for her whenever they got too far ahead.

"It's very beautiful here don't you think so, Fizz?" Nami asked her friend.

"Yeah I guess so," he replied. "Nothing beats open waters though but this is a pretty close second."

Miss Fortune finally caught up to them when they stopped and had come across a small hut deep within the forest, a sign next to the door revealed that it was Soraka's; she gritted her teeth and screamed in her hat.

"That old hag said that she was in a grove!" Miss Fortune yelled. "So I've been searching non-stop for just that. You heard her right?! She said grove, not hut, a grove!"

She sounded delusional and Nami patted her on the back and gave her a worried smile, Miss Fortune dropped to her knees and pointed at the hut, she told them that she would come in a second but they should go on ahead. Fizz twirled his fingers and made cuckoo noises and Nami followed Fizz to the hut. As they drew closer they could hear the sound of an angry voice and as slightly annoyed voice, the two peeked inside and tried to be as quiet as possible to see the source. A monkey in ruby coloured armour, Wukong, and a woman with nine, white tails and fox ears, Ahri, talked over each other, Ahri was visibly angry but Wukong suppressed himself, trying to keep a calm demeanour. In the middle of both of them was Soraka, purple skin, white hair and her long horn, remaining silent as the two argued and maintained her smile as much as she could. From the looks of it she had been smiling for some time and her cheeks were just about to give in.

"Instead of insulting one another, why don't you just listen to what the other one is thinking?" Soraka suggested, silencing the two.

The two looked at her then to each other and what followed was something that Soraka would regret when it came to giving advice to couples.

"You never pay attention to me," Said the woman. "It's always training this and training that!"

"You always want me with you," replied the monkey. "Sometimes I just want to talk to other people without you hanging over me all the time."

"You always stink of sweat whenever we're alone!"

"You get jealous too much."

"You never try to be romantic!"

"You get too competitive when we do anything."

"You can never read the atmosphere!"

"Your breath always stinks of dead animals."

Ahri gasped, covering her mouth to check if that was true and turned back to Soraka with a stern look. The Starchild just twiddled her fingers and coughed.

"Do you see what I have to deal with?!" Ahri pointed out.

Soraka laughed nervously whilst Fizz and Nami watched on. Fizz tried his best not to laugh and the gossip behind these two was always something different but to think that it was this bad, Fizz was right, Wukong is a goofball after all. To Nami though, she saw the couple and wondered if they were actually suited for each other if they argue as much as this, she had never really pried in other people's private lives but in the Institute the two looked happy together and that it was all a ruse was impressive in its own right.

"Okay, maybe that wasn't the best idea…" Soraka muttered under her breath before turning to Ahri. "You need to give Wukong his space sometimes Ahri."

"HAH!" the monkey blurted out, Soraka grabbed her staff and smacked him on the head with it to shut him up.

"You wanted to be with her so at least appreciate her company more," lectured Soraka while Wukong rubbed his head. "Both of you decided you wanted to be in this relationship but this is the third time THIS MONTH! Are you sure this is what you both want? Maybe you would be happier with other-"

"No!" the two said in unison defiantly.

"That's not an option," Ahri voiced out. "I want to make it work."

"So do I." Wukong backed up.

Miss Fortune snuck up behind the two peepers and grabbed them by the shoulders and whispered in their ears, "So what're we looking at?" The two stifled their surprise but it wasn't enough as they fell forwards inside Soraka's hut, Soraka, Wukong and Ahri looked down with surprise at their new company. The monkey offered a hand to the trio and Miss Fortune explained the situation to them. Once finished, the trio nodded their heads and everyone looked at Soraka for any information at all on the location of the moonstone. 'Surely someone who is called "The Starchild" would know something about this' was the thought in all of their minds. Soraka kept her eyes closed and scrunched her face, thinking as hard as she can if she knew anything maybe something, the five drew closer to her as if waiting for the big reveal.

"Nope! I don't know anything about a 'moonstone' I'm afraid," She apologised with a happy tone. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help."

Miss Fortune fell to her knees again giving an exasperated sigh, Fizz just shrugged to Nami, a dead-end. Fizz helped the poor captain back up to her feet, ready to travel back down to the small village and out of Ionia. Nami just looked downhearted that they couldn't find anything regarding the precious stone.

"It'll be alright Nami," assured Fizz. "I promise we won't give up until we get you that stone!"

Her friend's encouraging words were enough to lift her spirits up slightly as they left the tent.

"Going so soon?" asked Wukong.

"Yeah, no point in staying since we don't have a lead," Fizz pointed out to his friend. "Besides, it seems that we interrupted at a very _awkward_ time."

The monkey grabbed Fizz and bear-hugged him so hard that the creature felt all the air in his lungs disappear and he was gasping for air. He must've really annoyed Wukong with that last remark; though the monkey did have a large grin on his face Fizz could feel the frustration from his grip. Nami tapped Wukong on his shoulder and asked him to let her friend go, he looked at the beautiful mermaid and hesitated for a second but put Fizz down and allowed him to catch his breath again. Nami thanked him then asked Fizz if he was alright, it was embarrassing as Fizz reassured her that everything was alright and that they were just playing around. Wukong pointed outside and signified that he wanted to talk to Fizz monkey-to-fish; the two made an excuse and left the girls inside Soraka's hut for the time-being.

"I'll be back." Wukong whispered to Ahri.

"You better, stupid monkey…" muttered Ahri as she placed a small kiss on his cheek.

Once outside the monkey whistled as a large, golden cloud formed around his feet and lifted him and Fizz high above in the air, the monkey sat down and so did Fizz, it was a weird experience flying around in a cloud, it felt firm but Fizz thought that if he pushed down hard enough he would fall through. Wukong explained that the cloud was safe but it was probably for the best that they just sit still as it was still a cloud, albeit a magical one.

"What's on your mind then, monkey?" Fizz asked his friend.

"You and Nami, huh," Wukong said as he poked Fizz's cheek. "I kind of knew it would happen eventually."

"Please don't tell me you're thinking what I think you're thinking…"

"What exactly do you think I'm thinking about that made you think about me thinking that?" quipped the monkey.

"She's like… a naïve, little sister. Nothing more than that," Fizz disclosed to Wukong. "I gotta admit though, she's a lot of fun to be with."

"I feel the same way about Ahri." Wukong nodded with a smile.

"Weren't you just getting relationship advice?" he asked. "Three times in just one month, that sounds bad."

Wukong laughed nervously and playfully hit the back of his friend's head. The punch was so weak that Fizz knew that his friend didn't mean it and was still frustrated about his predicament.

"But you know… when we're not arguing about something stupid, she's the most amazing and most beautiful person that I came across, she helped me back up on my feet when I was at my lowest and I saw her most vulnerable side that she was afraid to show anyone," Wukong confessed. "I'm glad she's in my life and I hope she continues to stay in my life."

Fizz listened to the heartfelt, inner thoughts of his friend, something that he knew all too well that Wukong would never be able to actually say to Ahri because of his large ego and pride. It was funny how he talked about her, about what kind of person she is when the two are alone; Fizz found it hard to believe that these two would actually have any sort of problems but there will always be obstacles when you commit yourself to someone. Wukong sighed as if he's unloaded all the weight off his shoulders, they never often have heartfelt conversations even when they first met the two just looked for something fun to do, Wukong back then would often shirk his duties and training to cause trouble with his partner in crime but Fizz now saw that his friend had really matured.

"Sorry about that by the way," Wukong apologised. "I wanted to talk to you about what's been happening with you and her but instead I just unloaded so much on to you, we don't really talk as much as we used to so I wanted to catch up a little."

"I want to find the moonstone. Wu," Fizz mumbled but Wukong could hear him loud and clear. "For her, she really wants to help her people and it's what will make her the happiest."

"Sounds like you've got a hard decision to make."

"I want to make her happy but I don't think I can be someone she can come to when things look bad, I just want to have fun after all."

"I got it!" gasped Wukong as he grabbed Fizz by his shoulders and shook him around. "The summer solstice festival is in two days!"

"How is that gonna help, peach-for-brains?"

"Think about it, whale breath. It's the summer solstice festival, largest festival in Ionia; champions make an appearance all the time!"

"Go on…"

"Do I need to spell it out for you?" the monkey asked but the clueless expression on Fizz's face was enough to say yes. "Okay… summer solstice means there's gonna be a lot of sunny days, a festival celebrating summer and the Sun, get it yet?"

Fizz shook his head and Wukong could only face palm at his friend's stupidity.

"L-E-O-N-A," he spelled out. "Leona, Fizz!"

"Oh…!" Fizz said as the light bulb inside his head had finally lit up. "Of course, we ask Leona about the moonstone!"

"Uh no, we ask Leona about the whereabouts of Diana."

"You know Diana has some nasty friend right? Why do we need to go looking for her anyways?"

Wukong looked at his friend in disbelief; it was too much effort to explain everything in one go. Wukong pointed back toward Soraka's hut and the cloud immediately changed directions to follow its master's new command. Fizz was still in thought but Wukong told him not to worry about it and that he'll explain everything to the girls as soon as they get back. Fizz was grateful to his friend and laid down on the cloud with a satisfied expression but it wasn't before long when the sky turned dark and a large fortress appeared above Wukong's cloud as if it had been following them how it had managed to sneak up that close to them was a mystery, almost impossible. Wukong commanded the cloud to dive into the forest and told Fizz to hold on tight. The cloud expertly manoeuvred past the trees and foliage, Fizz looked up and saw that the fortress was still behind them but the cloud was so fast that such a huge structure had no way of catching up to them, then Fizz noticed something from the corner of his eyes, a shadowy-figure.

"Wu, duck!" Fizz instructed but the monkey's reflexes were too slow.

The shadowy figure had managed to get in front of them and charged straight at the cloud, grabbing both Fizz and Wukong and knocking them both out, the cloud dissipated when its master no longer had lost consciousness. Fizz could feel being dropped on the dirt ground and the sound of a familiar, echoic voice as he slipped to unconsciousness.

"The monkey and the fish creature… interesting…"


End file.
